Occupy protesters spoke out against foreclosures in a press conference in front of the Sonoma County Recorder’s office on Monday, March 12, 2012.

“We see the county recorder and the district attorney as an ally for us trying to stop these illegal foreclosures,” said Tim Nonn of Petaluma, an organizer of the protest. “All we are asking for is justice.”

Ravitch agreed to review documents provided by protesters, but stopped short of promising an investigation.

“I’ll look into it and I’ll take the action that I feel is necessary,” Ravitch said.

Ravitch met Monday in her office lobby with 20 protesters, who earlier staged a demonstration in front of the county recorder’s office and demanded a moratorium on foreclosures while their allegations are investigated.

The Santa Rosa protest was one of a dozen held around California.

The group said the district attorneys in San Francisco and Butte counties are reviewing documents filed at their county recorders’ office for evidence of unjustified foreclosures.

In San Francisco, Nonn said there were legal irregularities in 84 percent of the foreclosure cases.

The protesters singled out the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, which was created by the mortgage industry to track changes in ownership of loans as they are packaged and sold on the secondary market. Nonn and other critics say the electronic registry does not have the legal standing to claim ownership of the mortgages in its database, making it illegal for MERS to foreclose on mortgages.

“This is a call for action for homeowners to fight back, not to be picked off by the banks,” Nonn said.

A dozen protesters went into the county recorder’s office to get copies of their deeds of trust to see if they were part of the electronic registration system, which now covers about 60 percent of mortgages.

There have been nearly 9,500 foreclosures on Sonoma County homes in the past five years.

Patsy Griffin-Young of Petaluma said she has had financial problems since the recession hit the building industry, for which she is a consultant.

It caused her to default on her mortgage and file bankruptcy. Griffin-Young said she has filed six applications in the past three years asking her lender to modify her loan. The lender has lost her paperwork and changed its rules for modifications, leaving her stuck in her current loan, she said.

“They haven’t denied me,” Griffin-Young said. “They have changed the policies.”

Petaluma Vice Mayor Tiffany Renée said the foreclosure crisis is disrupting neighborhoods, while local governments are losing tax revenue as property values decline.

“Communities are facing an economic collapse,” Renée said. “We are asking the government to put a moratorium on foreclosures.”

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

… Occupiers ask for probes